1968 - Political Events

Political Events

The United States loses her 10,000th plane over Vietnam January 5 (see 1967). Former congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, now 87, leads 5,000 women of the Jeanette Rankin Brigade in a march on Capitol Hill at Washington, D.C., January 15 to protest U.S. involvement in the war. North Vietnamese artillery open up a barrage on the U.S. Marine base at Khe San January 21, hitting the main ammunition dump, killing 18 men, wounding 40, and destroying 90 percent of the Khe San arsenal as Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, now 55, follows the strategy that he employed successfully against the French at Dien Bien Phu 14 years ago. The communists lay siege to Khe Sanh, a fortress that commands a major road junction and infiltration route south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

A great Tet offensive begins January 31 as Vietcong guerrillas attack the U.S. Embassy at Saigon and North Vietnamese forces attack some 30 South Vietnamese cities, including Hue and Saigon, in an effort to topple the regime of generals Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu, who are supported by the United States.

South Vietnamese forces recapture the ancient palace grounds at Hue February 24, but the success of the enemy leads Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to resign; President Johnson replaces him with Clark Clifford.

A North Korean torpedo boat and subchaser seize the spy ship U.S.S. Pueblo off the port of Wonsan in January and her 83-man crew sustains one casualty. Crew members have tried frantically to shred documents and destroy espionage equipment before they could be seized; they are not totally successful, and the incident seriously compromises U.S. security. North Korea had broadcast warnings that she would not tolerate spy ships, but Idaho-born Pueblo commander Lloyd M. Bucher, 41, will deny that his ship came within 12 miles of the Korean coast and will be released with his surviving men after 11 months of captivity. A U.S. intelligence plane is shot down April 15 some 90 miles off the Korean coast.

My Lai village in South Vietnam is the scene of a massacre March 16. U.S. troops of C Company, First Battalion, Twentieth Infantry, Eleventh Brigade, American Division enter the village in Quang Ngai Province, gather hundreds of men, women, and children into groups, and "waste" them with automatic weapons fire. The Viet Cong has often used such villages as havens, and they have enraged the U.S. troops by killing a popular sergeant. Some of the soldiers refuse to fire on women and children; Louisiana-born warrant officer Hugh C. Thompson, Jr., 25, lands his reconnaissance helicopter to investigate. Told that it is none of his business, he takes off but then sees a ditch full of dead bodies with soldiers in the process of executing women, children, and old men. He lands again with his door gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glen Andreotta (who is killed 3 weeks later), they train their guns on the soldiers, and they help Thompson rescue nearly a dozen unarmed civilians, but the number of people killed will be reported at somewhere between 347 and 504. Soldiers who do participate in the massacre will later say that they acted on orders from Lieut. William L. Calley, Jr., 24; two soldiers write to their congressmen to complain of routine brutality, the army puts New York-born Major Colin L. (Luther) Powell, 31, in charge of an investigation, and he writes, "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent"; fellow officers ostracize Thompson for stopping the massacre, and news of the My Lai massacre will be suppressed for 20 months (see 1969).

Opposition to the Vietnam War enables Sen. Eugene McCarthy, 52, (D. Wis.) to make a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary; his success persuades President Johnson to announce March 31 that he will not be a candidate for reelection. New York civil-rights lawyer and anti-war activist Allard K. Lowenstein, 39, has led the opposition to another term for Johnson.

President Johnson announces cessation of U.S. air and naval bombardment north of the 20th parallel in Vietnam March 31 (advisers who include notably New York lawyer Arthur H. Dean, now 69, have persuaded the president to halt the bombing and not to run for reelection). South Carolina-born Gen. William (Childs) Westmoreland, 54, says, "The enemy has been defeated at every turn," but his statement has a hollow ring. Khe Sanh's garrison is successfully evacuated June 27; while it is true that the Americans have won every battle, the North Vietnamese have shown a willingness to sustain horrendous losses and continue fighting however long as it takes: their determination has impressed the world.

Nine Roman Catholic priests enter Selective Service offices at Catonsville, Md., in May, dump hundreds of 1-A classification records into trash baskets, take the records outside, burn them, and await arrest for their "symbolic act" protesting the Vietnam War. Jesuit priest-poet Daniel Berrigan, 47, his brother Philip, and their fellow priests will be sentenced to prison terms of from 2 to 3½ years each, but Daniel Berrigan will avoid apprehension after his conviction and exhaustion of appeals; he will continue speaking out against the war until rearrested in August 1970.

Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel (ret.) dies of a heart attack at Groton, Conn., May 14 at age 86.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D. N.Y.) makes a bid for the presidency after seeing the success of Eugene McCarthy in New Hampshire. Now 42, "Bobby" captures 174 delegate votes (winning the Indiana, Nebraska, and California primaries, losing in Oregon), but is assassinated June 5 in a Los Angeles kitchen pantry after leaving a victory celebration at the Ambassador Hotel. Kennedy aides seize Jordanian-born Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, 24, as he empties his .22 caliber, eight-shot Ivor Johnson pistol, wounding five others (he has purchased the handgun for $29 from a local firearms dealer).

Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk, 45, warns American ships to stay out of his part of the Mekong River. His forces seize a U.S. patrol boat July 17.

Czechoslovakia's president Antonín Novotny resigns under pressure in January, communist hardliner Ludvík Svoboda, 72, wins election as president of the republic March 30 on the recommendation of the new Communist Party first secretary Alexander Dubcek, 46, but both Svoboda and Dubcek decline invitations to attend conferences at Warsaw or Moscow. Novotny is succeeded on Dubcek's recommendation by Moravian-born war hero Ludvík Svoboda, 72, who will hold office until 1975. Dubcek appoints miner's son and former minister of fuel Oldrich Cernik, 46, prime minister in April in hopes that Cernik's centrist position will mollify hardline communist critics of reform. Dubcek and Cernik receive support from presidents Tito and Ceausescu, but the "Prague Spring" that has seen a relaxation of oppression ends August 20 as some 200,000 Soviet and satellite troops invade Czechoslovakia on orders from Moscow (Romanian troops do not participate).

Popular demonstrations in Czechoslovakia raise a threat of revolution like the one in Hungary 12 years ago. Moscow increases the Soviet army of occupation to 650,000 and summons Czech leaders to the Kremlin (First Party Secretary Dubcek, Prime Minister Cernik, and some others are taken to Moscow in handcuffs). President Svoboda plays a major role in obtaining the release of Dubcek and his aides; they return to Prague August 27 and announce the annulment of several important reforms. Slovak communist Gustav Husák, 55, has been deputy premier since April, he favored caution before the Soviet invasion, has led the faction demanding a reversal of Dubcek's reforms, and is appointed leader of the Communist Party in Slovakia August 28. Soviet foreign minister Kuznetsov arrives at Prague, Party Secretary Dubcek bans political clubs September 6, Czech authorities introduce a censorship system September 13, and the foreign minister who presented the Czech case at the UN resigns under pressure September 19 (see 1969).

The 9-year-old nuclear submarine U.S.S Scorpion receives a top secret message shortly before midnight May 16 advising her skipper to change course in the Atlantic and head for the Canary Islands. She surfaces 33 minutes later at Rota, Spain, transfers two crewmen ashore via Navy tug for personal reasons, and disappears May 22, carrying all of the 99 men aboard to their deaths. Her wreckage is discovered two miles deep in November, the navy blames her loss on mechanical failure, but suspicions will persist that a Soviet ship sent her to the bottom.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) signed in triplicate July 1 at London, Moscow, and Washington, D.C., pledges Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations to refrain from helping any country that does not yet possess nuclear explosives in obtaining or producing such explosives (see Test-Ban Treaty, 1963). Drafted with help from Mexican diplomat Alfonso García Robles, the treaty is to become effective in March 1970, 59 other nations soon sign it, France and the People's Republic of China will sign it in 1992, other nations (but not India, Pakistan, or Israel) will ratify it, and a consensus of 174 nations will vote at the United Nations in 1995 to extend it indefinitely.

Portuguese dictator Antonio de Oliveiro Salazar suffers a stroke and is replaced as prime minister September 21 by his former deputy Marcelo José das Neves Alves Catano, 61, who since 1959 has been rector of the University of Lisbon (see 1970).

French universities close down in May after widespread street fighting that began March 22 with violent student demonstrations at the University of Nanterre, outside Paris, and spread quickly to the Sorbonne and other schools. Police evacuate the Sorbonne May 3, arresting nearly 600 after more than 100 have been injured. Riots ensue in the Latin Quarter May 10 and 11 (the "night of the barricades") as students build cobblestone barricades and overturn 188 cars, burning many of them; nearly 1,000 are injured, including 251 police. Strikes in various industries from May 11 to May 27 bring an estimated 10 million workers off the job, President de Gaulle asks for restoration of order in a radio appeal broadcast May 24, French-born German student Daniel Cohn-Bendit ("Danny the Red"), 23, is exiled May 24 as a threat to public order (he took part initially in the revolt at Nanterre), trade unions sign major agreements on wages and working conditions May 27 and workers start returning to the job, de Gaulle dissolves Parlement May 30 and calls for elections, the movement loses steam by mid-June, the communists and other radical parties lose seats in the June elections, and the Gaullist Party wins a clear majority, having actually been strengthened by the disturbances.

Marshal Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky dies at Moscow May 10 at age 70; Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst at Hozminden, West Germany, June 18 at age 83 (he was condemned to death by the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946 for ordering the execution of 40 British commandos and prisoners of war, his sentence was later commuted, and he was released from prison in 1953 because of a heart condition); Marshal Konstantin K. Rokossovsky dies at Moscow August 3 age 71; former Greek premier George Papandreou at Athens November 1 at age 80 after surgery for a bleeding ulcer; former United Nations secretary general Trygve Lie of a heart attack at Geilo, Norway, December 30 at age 72.

Iraq has a military coup d'état July 17 as the Arab Baath Socialist Party overthrows President Abd ar-Rahman Arif and replaces him with Gen. Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, 54, who will share power with Baath leader Saddam Hussein, now 31 (see 1963; 1979; energy, 1972).

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) appoints a new leader as Arab hostility against Israel increases in the Middle East (see 1967): Yasir Arafat of the 12-year-old terrorist organization Al Fatah takes over, the major Arab nations agree to subsidize his activities, and he will head the PLO until his death in 2004 (see 1975).

Nauru in the South Pacific gains independence January 31. Once a German colony, the island with its rich phosphate deposits has been a British mandate and a United Nations Trust territory.

Mauritius in the Indian Ocean gains independence March 12 after more than 153 years of British colonial rule.

Former New Zealand prime minister Sir Walter Nash dies at Auckland June 4 at age 86.

President Marcos of the Philippines pardons former Huk leader Luis Taruc in September (see 1954). Now 55, Taruc resumes working for land reform. Manila lays claim to Saba on the island of Borneo and passes a law September 18 incorporating the territory into the Philippine Republic after talks at Bangkok with the Malaysian government have broken down. Communist guerrilla activity in northern Malaysia has resumed in June; Malaysia breaks relations with Manila.

Uganda's president Milton Obote promotes Brig. Gen. Idi Amin to major general, announces a turn to the left and tries to remove influential Bugandan officials from power, replacing them with members of his own ethnic Acholi and Langi tribes (see 1966; 1971).

Swaziland gains independence September 6 after 66 years of British rule.

Equatorial Guinea in West Africa gains independence October 12 after 124 years of Spanish colonial rule.

The African continent, which was completely white-controlled 10 years ago, is controlled south of the Sahara by black regimes in every country except Angola, Mozambique, Rhodesia, South Africa, South-West Africa (Namibia), and Equatorial Guinea. Within 6 years only Rhodesia, South Africa, and South-West Africa will remain white-controlled.

Canada's prime minister Lester B. Pearson announces in March that he will retire, and his minister of justice Pierre Elliott Trudeau campaigns for leadership of the Liberal Party; now 48, Trudeau has overcome widespread resistance to obtain passage of legislation calling for stricter gun control and reform of measures against abortion and homosexuality; his progressive ideas and colorful personality help him win out over 19 other candidates, he becomes party leader April 6, and he is elected prime minister April 20, assuming an office that he will hold until 1979 (and from 1980 to 1984).

Mexico City students gather in Tlatelolco Plaza (The Plaza of the Three Cultures) October 2 to protest an army takeover of the National University scarcely a week before the scheduled opening of the Olympic Games. President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz sends in riot police and federal troops to break up the demonstration, which has allegedly been instigated by writer Octavio Paz's wife and fellow writer Elena Garro, 47 (she goes into exile and will remain abroad for more than 20 years); at least 10 plainclothes snipers on rooftops of the surrounding Tlatelolco housing complex open fire with machine guns on tens of thousands of student demonstrators in the worst massacre since the 1910 revolution. Officials initially report 29 dead and later raise the figure to 37; a U.S. diplomat says "nearly 200" were killed, others count as many as 700 bodies. Some 2,000 young people are beaten and jailed, police ransack the office of a magazine that publishes dramatic photographs of the events, and the massacre brings demands for democracy and accountability that will grow in future years as survivors come to play leading roles in the nation's intellectual and political life (but see 1971).

Peru has a military coup d'état October 3 as a column of tanks under the command of Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado, 58, rumbles into Lima's Plaza de Armas, arrests President Belaunde Terry, sends him into exile in the United States, and defies U.S. interests by seizing properties (see 1963). Velasco Alvarado has capitalized on public outrage over an agreement allowing a U.S. company to develop oil fields in northern Peru, and he will rule until his own overthrow in 1975, making sweeping changes in the nation's society by limiting U.S. influence; nationalizing electric power, transportation, and communications; and converting millions of acres of privately-owned farms into worker-managed cooperatives.

Puerto Rico's Popular Democratic Party divides into factions after having controlled the governorship for 20 years and dominated the legislature for 28. New Progressive Party founder Luis A. (Alberto) Ferré, 64, is elected governor and will serve until 1973, increasing workers' wages and benefits, constructing roads, an airport, and beaches, and developing the island's copper mines.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren advises President Johnson June 13 that he wishes to retire for reasons of age after 15 years; Johnson nominates Justice Abe Fortas, now 58, to succeed him (but see 1969).

Former House Speaker Joseph W. Martin Jr. (D. Mass.), dies of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at Hollywood, Fla., March 6 at age 83; Alabama's governor Lurleen (Mrs. George) Wallace dies of cancer at Montgomery May 7 at age 41. She is succeeded by Albert Preston Brewer, 39.

The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Selective Service Act May 27 in an opinion handed down in the case of United States v. O'Brien (draft resister David P. O'Brien and three companions burned their draft cards on the steps of the South Boston Courthouse at the end of March 1966 and O'Brien was indicted).

Bloody police confrontations mark the Democratic Party convention at Chicago in August, with demonstrators protesting U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia and many domestic policies (see 1967). Some 10,000 militants protest the rising death toll in Vietnam with a "Festival of Life" in Grant and Lincoln parks that includes rock concerts, marijuana smoking, public lovemaking, beach nude-ins, and draft card burnings. Self-styled revolutionists have called for a mobilization of 500,000 at Chicago, but their forces are far outnumbered by 16,000 Chicago police officers, 4,000 state police officers, and 4,000 National Guardsmen armed with tear gas grenades, night sticks, and firearms, who act on orders from Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley and brutally crack heads to prevent demonstrators from remaining overnight in city parks. The police arrest 308, and although eight cops are indicted for use of excessive force all will be acquitted. Leaders of the protest include Worcester, Mass.-born activist Abbot H. "Abbie" Hoffman, 30, and Jerry C. Rubin, 29, of the "Yippies" (Youth International Party), Rennie Davis, 27, and Michigan-born Thomas E. Hayden, 27, of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Dallas-born Black Panther leader Robert George "Bobby" Seale, 31, and civil rights advocate David Dellinger, 52 (see trial, 1969).

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Chicago police and National Guardsmen bloodied anti-war demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention.

Democrats at Chicago nominate Vice President Hubert Horatio Humphrey, 57, to succeed President Johnson, who announces complete cessation of U.S. aerial, artillery, and naval bombardment of Vietnam north of the 20th parallel October 31 in a move to further the peace talks at Paris and help Humphrey's chances for the presidency, but the talks produce no results.

Former vice president Richard M. Nixon wins the Republican nomination on the first ballot, having actively campaigned for Republican candidates in 1966 and regained favor. He claims to have a "secret plan" for ending the war in Vietnam and wins election by the narrowest margin since his own defeat by John F. Kennedy in 1960—43.4 percent of the popular vote to Humphrey's 43 percent (but 302 electoral votes to Humphrey's 191). Former Alabama governor George C. Wallace carries five Southern states with a combined electoral vote of 45 (he has run as the candidate of the American Independent Party). Antiwar activist Benjamin Spock, M.D., has run as the People's Party candidate on a platform that called for free medical care, legalization of abortion and marijuana, a guaranteed minimum income, and immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from foreign countries.

Brooklyn's 12th Congressional District elects local activist Shirley (Anita St. Hill) Chisholm, 43, to the House of Representatives, where she will be the first elected black congresswoman. Chisholm will serve seven terms.

Los Angeles County superior court judge Shirley (Mount) Hufstedler, 43, is appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, becoming the first woman appellate justice (see education, 1979).

National Turn in Your Draft Card Day November 14 features burning of draft cards and war protest rallies at many U.S. campuses as the Vietnam death toll approaches 30,000 and U.S. troop strength in Vietnam reaches its peak of 550,000.

Longtime Socialist Party leader and pacifist Norman Thomas dies of a heart attack at Huntington, N.Y., December 19 at age 84.